


Run, Rabbit Run

by Bizarra



Series: Come Healing Universe [9]
Category: Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Voyager
Genre: Charlie Janeway, Come Healing Universe, Crew as Family, F/M, Female Friendship, Rape Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25601260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bizarra/pseuds/Bizarra
Summary: In the aftermath of Teero Anaydis's attempted mutiny of Voyager, Kathryn seeks help from The Doctor and gets it in an unexpected, yet welcomed way.
Relationships: Chakotay/Kathryn Janeway
Series: Come Healing Universe [9]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1476011
Comments: 11
Kudos: 34
Collections: Come Healing Universe: Collected Works





	Run, Rabbit Run

**Author's Note:**

> The title is from a WW2 era kids song about chasing rabbits. I hear it and imagine Charlie and Naomi chasing squabbits on the holodeck. :)
> 
> Thank you to Dawn47 for the Beta. (Though the last scene was added after she looked at it, and was my own doing)
> 
> This is a "filler" ep. Next story will move the plot along.
> 
> Enjoy!!

A Come Healing story

The sound of two laughing children echoed through the sun-browned grasses of the prairie field. A clearing had been left in the programming for a picnic spot. Kathryn Janeway sat on a worn patchwork blanket spread across the ground. Next to her, Samantha Wildman pulled a bottle of wine from a wicker basket that held the remnants of their dinner. “It’s replicated, but it’ll do.” Sam told her as she twisted out the cork.

Kathryn smiled as she held out a glass. “I’ve got an early start tomorrow, anyway. Wouldn’t look good for the captain to show up for bridge duty with a hangover.” Her companion chuckled as she poured the spirit.

Kathryn glanced quickly when she heard an excited squeal. Her heart raced as she stood quickly to go to her son’s rescue, only then realizing he was playing. “Damn,” she muttered to herself.

“Kathryn?” Samantha Wildman looked up from the sandwich she was eating.

With a deep sigh, Kathryn sat down, “It’s okay. I overreacted.” She picked up a berry and thumbed some of the green stem off. She looked in the direction of the two kids and shook her head. “I keep doing that lately.”

“You’ve been through a traumatic experience.” Sam reached over and gave her friend’s arm a light squeeze. “It will take time to adjust.”

“I was in a good place, dammit.”

Samantha lowered her head and nodded in understanding. “And you’ll get there again. Of that I have no doubt.”

“Mama!” Both women refocused their attention on the two kids running happily toward them, Charlie carrying a struggling animal awkwardly between his hands. “Look what we caught!” His face was flushed with excitement.

She didn’t recognize the wriggling furry thing with long ears and a tail. “What is that?”

Naomi’s grin widened. “It’s a squabbit!”

Kathryn froze even as she heard the other woman admonish the children. “What do you think you’re going to do with it? Put that poor animal down.” She heard her son whine a little before doing what he was told. A memory flitted through her mind of Chakotay explaining how they’d had to eat the squabbits on Hanon.

Suddenly, she felt bile rise in her throat so she swallowed hard and stood quickly. “I need… I need to go.” Her hand flew to her mouth before she mumbled a request to take care of Charlie. At the agreement from her friend, Kathryn rushed out of the holodeck. The last thing she heard before the door closed behind her was her son’s confused call for her.

She stopped to lean against the bulkhead, her entire body chilled and shivering. _This has to stop,_ she thought. She had to find a way to live with this. She needed to find a balance. Now, feeling like she could control the contents of her stomach, Kathryn made her way to sickbay to ask the Doctor for help.

Kathryn walked through the doors to the medical offices. “Computer activate EMH.”

“Please stat… oh, Captain.” The Doctor materialized, saw who it was, and immediately grabbed a medical tricorder. “What are your symptoms?”

Kathryn waved the diagnostic tool away. “I just need to talk to you.” She gestured to his office. “Can we speak privately?”

“Of course, Captain.” He followed her into the office and closed the door behind him. She sat, and he patiently stood in front of her. “What is it you wanted to speak about?”

“I just had another panic attack.” Kathryn’s hand went to her brow to rub at her temples. “I want this to end. I need to get my life back. Again.”

Her Chief Medical Officer sat in the second chair and rolled it in front of her. “I can give you something for anxiety, but it can’t substitute for cognitive behavior therapy.”

“Who do you suggest?” Kathryn snapped, “We have no one onboard who’s qualified.”

“I’ve been giving it some thought. Now that we’re in regular contact with Starfleet, I could set up sessions via the video conferencing. It wouldn’t be the most ideal way to conduct therapy sessions, but it would be something.”

Kathryn shook her head. “I wouldn’t want to take family time from the rest of the crew. It wouldn’t be fair. And my privacy couldn’t be guaranteed.”

“I thought you’d say that,” the Doctor said with understanding. “We could set up a holographic counselor equipped with all the training and therapeutic knowledge of a psychologist. An EHC, if you will.”

“An EHC?” Her face showed her confusion.

“An Emergency Holographic Counselor. I’ve been speaking with Doctor Zimmerman in my data stream and we’ve been working together with Starfleet and Counselor Troi to achieve this very thing.”

“You haven’t…”

“Certainly not, Captain.” The EMH denied, “I’ve been talking to Starfleet Medical in my purview as Voyager’s Chief Medical Officer. I have been explaining that in our situation, or any other deep space situation, all ships should be equipped with both an EMH and an EHC.” He folded his hands together. “On a more personal note, I think if you allow us to program subroutines specific to your case, you can see a holographic version of Counselor Troi regularly without taking comm time from the rest of the crew.”

Kathryn sat back and gave the option serious thought. “Before any of my medical records are released to Troi, I would like to speak to her. I’d like to get to know her.”

“Yes, Captain,” the physician agreed. “I can set up a meeting with the next video stream.”

Kathryn stood and nodded. “Do that, Doctor.” She turned to leave the room. “I have a picnic to return to.”

“I’ll contact you with an appointment time.”

“Good. Thank you, Doctor.” Voyager’s captain left Sickbay, feeling better because she had a plan.

A week later, Kathryn stood in front of the large screen in Astrometrics, alongside the Doctor, awaiting her first conversation with Deanna Troi, the Enterprise’s celebrated counselor. She was both eager and nervous to meet the psychologist having done a lot of research on the woman’s career since the Doctor mentioned her name.

Jean-Luc Picard had given multiple glowing commendations including Troi’s aftercare of his assimilation. Kathryn acknowledged that her own brief assimilation was another of the many topics they could probably discuss. She huffed an ironic snort at the idea that her having been assimilated by the Borg was the least of her issues.

“Captain, we’re receiving the incoming transmission.” Her CMO spoke up from his place beside her. “I’ll stay here long enough to introduce you, then I’ll leave you to talk. You’ll have about ten minutes.”

Her focus whipped to the man next to her. “Ten minutes?”

Silently, he nodded. “Arrangements were made.”

“Doctor.” His name came out a little more than an order to tell her.

“Patient privilege, Captain.” He gave her a slight smile. “I’ll put through the call now.”

The Starfleet Medical logo flashed briefly on the expansive screen, only to be replaced by the friendly smiling face of Deanna Troi. “Good afternoon, Doctor. Captain Janeway.”

Voyager’s EMH stepped forward slightly to introduce the two women. “Deanna Troi, Kathryn Janeway. I will leave the two of you to chat.” He turned to his commanding officer, “Captain, if you’ll stop by sickbay after the call, we can proceed from there.” At her nod, he bid his farewell and left the room.

“Would you prefer for me to call you Captain, or Kathryn?” the dark-haired woman asked in a melodically accented voice.

“Kathryn would be fine.” She smiled, “I hear my given name so infrequently, sometimes I forget that it isn’t actually ‘Captain’.”

“Of course,” Deanna settled into her chair. “I’m sure you have a lot of things you wish to talk to me about. What I’m suggesting to Starfleet and assisting Doctor Zimmerman with is to program a holographic version of me with the full range of psychiatric knowledge and protocols for multiple species and the adaptability of your EMH to use as a counselor, not only for you, but for anyone on your crew should they need it.”

Kathryn chuckled. “I’m sure by now, we all need it.” Her demeanor turned serious, “The delta quadrant has not been an easy picnic. We’ve had to adapt and learn to push through.” She scratched the back of her thumb with a fingernail, “and in all honesty, some decisions I’ve had to make may not be acceptable for Starfleet.”

“You’ve had to survive, Kathryn.” The Betazoid woman assured her, “Starfleet has been reading and studying the logs you’ve sent, and they’re understanding and, even impressed by what you’ve accomplished. You should be proud.”

Kathryn rocked back and forth on her feet, uncomfortable with the praise. “To tell you the truth, some days I wake up terrified about what could happen at any given moment.” She hesitated, “I probably have the Kazon to thank for that.”

She was rewarded with a gentle, understanding look on the counselor’s face. “You are a lot stronger than you think. What you have survived out there would have killed a weaker person.” Troi leaned forward, “If you’ll trust me with your medical files, I can read up on your specific case and we can program the holographic counselor to have the knowledge to work with you right away.”

Kathryn sighed. She knew she needed to talk to someone. Hell, Charlie needed to talk to someone. He couldn’t go on hating his father anymore than she could. She missed Chakotay terribly and wanted desperately to separate him from her traumatic memories.

“Deanna, do you know anything about the recent incident with Teero?”

“I only know what your EMH has told me. He mentioned that it’s brought on a recurrence of your memories.” Troi furrowed her brows, “Is there anything else I should know?”

“Chakotay's and my son was caught in the middle. Because he’s half-Cardassian, the mind controlled Maquis were not kind to him. Unfortunately, that included his father.” Kathryn turned and noticed that the Doctor had placed a rollaway chair atop the platform. She pulled it close and sat down. “Charlie is too young to understand that it wasn’t really Chakotay.” Kathryn blinked away threatening tears. “He thinks his Daddy hates him.”

Deanna Troi blew a sharp breath from her lips. “It sounds to me that along with everything, we should set up family counseling.”

There was a beep notifying the women that their time was nearly up. “If you’ll give me permission to see your medical files and any reports or files on the Teero incident regarding your son and Commander Chakotay, and with his permission, I will add the data to the ECH program that we will send you.”

Kathryn breathed in and nodded. “I’ll have the Doctor send over any pertinent information. I’ll speak with Chakotay about his files. He wants us to work things out just as much as I do, so I don’t foresee a problem with access to his data.” She stood. “Thank you, Deanna. I… we… Voyager desperately needs a counselor. I really appreciate you agreeing to this.”

Deanna smiled, widely. “It’s an honor to be chosen as the distant Chief Counselor for Voyager. Help is on the way. In the meantime, I’d like to continue speaking with you this way until the ECH program is ready to send to you.”

“Agreed.” Kathryn gave the woman a warm smile. “I appreciate the help. I’ll speak to you soon.” She deactivated the signal and sat down as a rush of relief moved over her. Now she had a way to get her through this stumble in her recovery.

After leaving Astrometrics, Kathryn headed back up to the bridge to finish her shift. The turbolift doors opened, and she stepped out, intending to go to her Ready Room. She paused seeing Chakotay in his chair. He’d only been back on alpha shift for two weeks and things were still awkward between them. As each day passes it only proves to her just how much she wanted to put this behind her and move on. Truth be told she missed her husband. Missed waking with him in the mornings. She breathed deeply; now was as good a time as any to speak to him about seeing Counselor Troi. “Commander, can I see you in my Ready Room, please?”

As she was stepping to the doors of her office, she handed the bridge to Tuvok and moved inside the room. She heard the doors quietly let Chakotay in as she made for the replicator. “Want some tea?” She glanced at her first officer as he moved to the couch.

“Please.” Chakotay sat. Kathryn handed him the hot cup of tea and sat herself.

Kathryn took a sip from her coffee. “I know we limit personal business while on duty, but this is a conversation between Kathryn and Chakotay. Is that okay with you?”

With a nod, Chakotay leaned forward and set his drink on the table. “How is Charlie holding up?”

“He’s adjusting.” Kathryn took another drink. “I’m sure you miss him. I can ask if he wants to see you.”

With a shake of his head, Chakotay declined. “I don’t want to traumatize him further.”

“The Doctor had an idea that may be beneficial for us all.” Kathryn leaned against the back of the sofa. “He’s working with Starfleet and Deanna Troi to program and provide us with a holographic counselor.” She curled one leg beside her on the seat. “I’ve given him the okay and have even begun to see Troi for my own sessions.”

She could see the relief move over Chakotay’s body. “I’m glad.” He reached for her, then pulled back. “You need to talk to someone.”

“So do you.” Kathryn fought her own urge to take his hand. “Charlie, too. In fact, she suggested that we as a family should see her regularly.” She searched his face for agreement and smiled when he gave it.

“This holographic counselor, is it going to be ready soon?”

Kathryn nodded. “She. It’ll have the personality and appearance of Troi. The Doctor thinks the program should be ready to send in about a month.” Her gaze moved toward the stars behind her. “They’ve requested our medical files and logs from… from the mutiny to program the EHC specifically to handle our case as a priority.”

“EHC?”

Kathryn chuckled a little at that. “Emergency Holographic Counselor. Since we used ECH for The Doctor’s command protocols, he didn’t want to confuse the computer.”

“Ahh,” Chakotay grinned, “he’d rather confuse us.” He turned serious and went back to the conversation at hand. “What do you need from me?”

“You’ll do this?”

“Kathryn, I want you and Charlie back in my life,” this time he reached for and gently took her hand, “and I want us to get the help we need to make that happen.”

She gave his hand a light squeeze, “Just give the Doctor permission to send any pertinent files to Counselor Troi. He already has mine and Charlie’s.”

“Consider it done.” Within a final rub of her hand, Chakotay let go and leaned back. “Thank you for giving us a chance.”

Her throat tightened as she fought back a sob. “I don’t want our son to stay afraid of you. I want to stop seeing your face among the Kazon in my nightmares. I need to separate you from that.”

“I’m so sorry this has happened to us.” Chakotay’s voice trembled as he too fought his emotions. He breathed deeply and pulled himself together. “I’ve expressed an interest in seeing Teero charged with mind control and mutiny. Starfleet Security has assured me they’re working with the Bajorans to ensure that he’s arrested and tried.”

“Good.” She stood, “You know, despite what happened, I’d fight like hell to see that our people aren’t punished for something out of their control.” She moved to the stairs, then stopped and turned. “How are Jarvin and Doyle?”

“Mortified, but they understand why they’re in the Brig.” Chakotay explained. “Jarvin told me he’d have brigged himself if you hadn’t done it for him.”

“I was angry.” Kathryn admitted. “Maybe thirty days was too much.”

Chakotay shook his head as he rose from the couch. “I’ve spoken to them. They both want to be there. They feel they deserve it.”

Kathryn nodded, hesitated a moment, and then changed the subject. “Alpha shift is nearly over. I’m going to rescue Charlie from The Doctor’s lecture on single-cell organisms.” She descended the stairs and walked toward the corridor exit. “Don’t forget to talk to the Doctor about your records.”

“I won’t. I’ll do it now.”

“I’ll see you on the bridge tomorrow morning.” Kathryn stepped through the doors. She could hear Chakotay calling for the Doctor as the doors closed behind her.

One month later, Kathryn walked into holodeck two, set the privacy lock for an hour and began her in-person sessions with the holographic Deanna Troi.


End file.
